Student documentary examines the threat to Guelph’s drinking water supply in Dolime Dilemma

Guelph Mercury

GUELPH — A 12-minute documentary made by two Ryerson film studies students sheds some light on the complicated quarrying operation that’s happening on the fringes of Guelph and the potential the operation has to damage Guelph’s drinking water supply.

Dolime Dilemma: Waterproof? includes interviews with Guelph Mayor Karen Farbridge, members of the Wellington Water Watchers, a water resources engineer at the University of Guelph, and an official with James Dick Construction Ltd., the company quarrying at the Dolime site.

Guelph residents know the city’s drinking water comes from aquifers, and both Hugh Whitely, the engineer, and Mark Goldberg, a founder of the local water watchdog group, explain in the film how blasting at the quarry has potential to damage the aquitard, the naturally-occurring protective layer of stone above the aquifer.

The film also explains that the company has voluntarily put together a plan to ensure Guelph’s drinking water remains safe, even after the company finishes quarrying there, a plan that’s been approved by the Ministry of Natural Resources.

“We don’t think there’s any real possibility it will negatively impinge on the city’s water,” Greg Sweetnam, vice president of resources at James Dick construction, says in the film.

“The market needs this material,” he says later. “Even opponents of quarries are using this material.”

Farbridge explains the city’s concerns — that when quarrying is finished and the area is to be naturalized into a lake, the city’s drinking water will be most at risk.

“For the short term we want extraction of the aquitard to stop,” Farbridge says. For the long term, “we’re uncomfortable moving forward with a voluntary plan. We need a plan the company is obligated to follow.”

Kristy Neville, who directed the documentary, said she’s always been interested in water issues and stumbled upon this Guelph-centric issue while exploring possible topics for a documentary film assignment at school.

“The mega-quarry was getting press at the time so I steered away from that,” she said in a phone interview. “But I couldn’t find out much about the Dolime quarry. I thought it deserved deeper exploration.”

Neville worked with student Jillian McKenzie, who was producer on this project. The two went so far as to hire a helicopter to fly over the quarry to get some footage. The quarry is hard to see from the Hanlon Expressway or Wellington Rd. 124, yet it stretches for miles like a gaping wound.

Neville was pleased that Sweeney agreed to speak in the documentary — officials at the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Natural Resources declined the offer.

“I wanted to show both sides of the argument. That makes the documentary more credible and balanced,” she said.

Neville said she appreciates that any construction job begins with aggregate rock and it’s in high demand right now.

“But I don’t agree with the way this has been handled, especially with the voluntary plan. If something happens to Guelph’s drinking water down the road, the company should be held accountable. The government doesn’t seem to be taking care of our water either,” she said.

Filming was done last fall, and nothing has changed for the quarry, the aquitard, or for Guelph’s drinking water since then, she said.

While she hopes to show the documentary in Guelph again, it is being screened at Planet in Focus: Environmental Film Festival on Oct. 13, 2:15 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox theatre in Toronto.